Engine-starter.



C. POHL.

ENGINE STARTER.

APPLlcATmN FILED si-:PT.9.1918.

Patented Apr. 29,1919.

N iran eras Partnr onirica.

CHARLES POHL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO GLOBE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF ARIZONA.

ENGINE-STARTER.

Application led September 9, 1918.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES PoHL, a citizen of the .United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a' new and useful Engine-Starter, of which the following is a. specification.

This invention pertains to a device of the character employed in starting into operation internal combustion engines and refers particularly to improvements over my prior patent for engine starter No. 1,14%),7 83, dated August 10, 1915.

In the patented starter more or less difficulty arises from the fact that if the engine `back-tires the pawl is not thrown out of commission quickly enough and consequently is more or less injured by the back thrust of the ratchet teeth. Besides this it is clear that if the pawl is not thrown out quickly enough it tends to be rotated with the ratchet `member when back-fire takes place and thus causes shock and possibly injury to the operator. In said former patented device the foot of the operator was employed to operate the device and this present device may be operated in the same manner or otherwise as desired.

An object of the invention is to overcome the above noted dificulty.

Further objects yand advantages will appear in the subjoined detailed description.

rIhe accompanying drawings illustrate the invention:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a st-arter built in accordance with the provisions of this invention, a portion of the shaft being broken away to contract the view yand 'the cap being shown in vertical mid section so as to eXpose the parts within.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on a plane normal tothe direction of sight in looking at Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation from line indicated by .m3-w3, Fig. 2, the cap being omitted.

Fig. I isan elevation from'line indicated by mL-w, lg. 2, the cap being omitted.

There is provided a shaft 1 which may be connected at its rear end by a coupling 2 to the shaft, not shown, of the engine with which the device is to be used. rlllhe shaft 1 is provided at its forward end with a transversely 'extending pin 3 so that a starter crank, not shown, can be used in an emergency for cranking the engine. The shaft 1 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

Serial No. 253,193.

is journaled in a bearing 4 of a housing indicated in general by the character 5. VThis housing 5 may be fastened by any suitable means to :the frame of the engine or automobile on which the device is to be used. In the instance sho-wn in the drawings the housing 5 is provided at its periphery with laterally projecting ears 6 through which bolts may be passed to bolt the housing in place. T he front of the housing 5 is in the form of a bell-shaped cap 7 which may be fastened in place by screws 10` or their equivalents. T he cap 7 is provided at its outer end with an orifice 8 normally closed by a detachable cover 9. This cover 9 may be fastened in place by any well known means so that it may be detached in order that a crank may be applied to the front end of the shaft 1 to turn said shaft, if for any reason the starter should get out of order so as to necessit'ate the cranking of the shaft 1 by hand in a manner well understood in the art pertaining to internal combustion engines.

Fastened by the screws 1() to a flange 11 of the housing 5 is a spring support 12 provided with a spring chamber 13 in which is accommodated a clock spring 14. The spring 14 is fastened at one end 'by a screw 1-5 or its equivalent to the peripheral wall .of the chamber` 13 and the-opposite end of said spring is fastened by a screw 16 or its equivalent to a hub 17 journaled a't 18 on the shlaft 1. The hub 17 is provided with a radially extending flange 19 fastened by screws 2O or their equivalents to a cupped member 21, the flange 19 and cupped member 21 together forming a rotary member or inner housing for a ratchet wheel 22 which is keyed at 23 to the shaft 1. The teeth 24 of the ratchet wheel are designed to be enga-ged by a pawl 25 pivoted at 26 t0 the cupped member 21. Thus the pawl 25 is rotativeiy mounted on the shaft 1 and the spring 14 yieldingly holds the pawl against rotation around the shaft. The pivoting of the pawl 25 is such that counter-clockwise rotation of the ratchet wheel .in Fig. 3 will tend to push the pawl 25 out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel. This construction is just the reverse of that disclosed in the above mentioned patent for in said patent the pawl is so pivoted that counter-clockwise rotation of the ratchet wheel d'oes not tend to throw the pawl out of engagement with the teeth, a spring being solely relied upon to retract the pawl. ln' the former construction when the engine back-fired it caused rota-tion of the ratchet wheel against the pawl and owing to the inertia of the spring, said spring did not act quickly enough to retract the pawl and therefore the ratchet wheel delivered a blow on the pawl, `sometimes suliiciently hard to break the pawl or the teeth of the ratchet wheel. By the construction disclosed above such breakage is o'bviated.

The pawl 25 is normally pressed outward from the ratchet wheel and held out of commission by a spring 27 fastened by screws 28 or their equivalents to the perimeter of the cupped member 21. The free end of the pawl 25 is engaged by a lever or arm 29 pivoted at 30 to the cupped member 21. l/Vhen this lever 29 is swung inward it forces the pawl 25 toward the ratchet wheel to engage one of the teeth of said ratchet wheel. Pivoted at 30 tothe arm 29 'is a flexible connection 31 which in the instance shown is in the form of a chain. This chain passes through a port 32 in the housing 5 and is adapted to be connected to any suitable operating mechanism whereby a pullmay be exerted on the connection 31 for operation thereof to cause rotation of the shaft 1 in a manner to be hereinafter described.

The spring support 12l is provided with radially extending oil ducts 32 which are adapted during rotation of the hub 17 to communicate at their inner ends with an oil duct 33 in the hub 17 so that oil may be supplied by way of said ducts to the journal 18. The housing 5 is provided with a radially cxtendingoil duct 34 adapted to communicate at its inner end with a duct 35 in the journal 4 so that oil may be supplied to said journal. The duct 34 extends to the perimeter tof the housing 5 and is ordinarily closed by a plug 36 which may be removed when desired to supply oil to the duct 34.

Projecting in from the inner face of the housing 5 is a lug 37 adapted to act as a stop against a shoulder 38 of the housing 19, 21, to limit retractive movement caused by the spring 14.

In practice, assuming that the coupling 2 connects the shaft 1 to the engine sha-ft, not shown, of an internal combustion engine, if it be desired to start the engine into operation, the operator will cause a pull to be exerted on the connection 31 by footoperated or other suitable mechanism, not shown, so as to swing the arm 29 inward toward the axis of the starter. The arm 29 in this movement pushes the pawl 25 into engagement with the ratchet wheel. The operator continues to exert a pull on the flexible connection 31 and thereby rofeetly tates the pawl 25 and with it the ratchet wheel in the direction indicated by the arrow a, Fig. 3. Turning of the pawl causes turning of the hub 17 'which operates to wind the spring 14 so as to store up power in said spring. The ratchet wheel turns the shaft 1 so as to rotate the engine shaft and start the engine int-o operation. The engine will thereupon become self-operating ina manner well understood in the art pertaining to internal combustion engines and as soon as self-operation becomes evident the operator will discontinue pulling on the connection 31 whereupon the stored up power of the clock spring 14 will become operative to cause rotation of the hub 17 in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow a Fig. 3, so as to rotate the cupped member 21, and'with it the pawl 25 and ratchet wheel to thereby retract the flexible connection 31 to the position shown in Fig. 3 ready for another operation the next time the engine is to be started.

If the lengine should back-fire it would tend to cause counter-clockwise rotation of the ratchet wheel an therefore, before the spring 27 could come into action to retract the pawl 25, even when the operator has released the flexible connection 31, the ratchet Wheelwill throw out the pawl 25 so that such counter-clockwise rotation will be perfree and no injury result to the ratchet teeth, pawl or operator.

I claim:

An engine starter comprising a housing, a shaft journaled inthe housing, member journaled on the shaft, a pawl pivoted to the rotary member, a ratchet wheel fixed to the shaft and adapted to be engaged by the pawl, a spring 'connected at one end with the housing and at its opposite end with the rotary member' to cause the ratchet Wheel to be turned in one direction when the pawl is in engagement with the ratchet wheel, the pawl being adapted to be thrown out of engagement-with the ratchet 'wheel by turning of said wheel in the opposite direction, an arm pivoted to the rotary member and adapted to engage the pawl to move the pawl toward the ratchet wheel, means to yieldingly hold the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, and a flexible connection attached to the arm whereby the arm may be swung against the pawl and rotated about the shaft.

.Signedat Los Angeles, 4th day of-September, 1918.

CHARLES POHL.

Witnesses:

.GEORGE H. HILES, L. BELLE WEAVER.

a rotary California, this Y 

